Carlo Ancelotti and Jurgen Klopp unite in criticism of “not football” VAR handball checks

What happened?

Manchester City awarded a controversial penalty in the second leg of their last 16 showdown with RB Leipzig as Spanish official Hernandez Hernandez advised match referee Slavko Vincic to review an incident involving Benjamin Henricks that nobody appealed for a spot kick One was eventually awarded despite the Leipzig star seeing the ball strike his arm with his back to the play During a review of a possible handling by Liverpool defender Kostas Tsimikas who saw the ball flick up off his thigh and onto his hand during stoppage time of the Reds defeat at Real Madrid also left onlookers perplexed as there had clearly been no infringement " >The latest round of elite European action saw Manchester City awarded a controversial penalty in the second leg of their last-16 showdown with RB Leipzig, as Spanish official Hernandez Hernandez advised match referee Slavko Vincic to review an incident involving Benjamin Henricks that nobody appealed for a spot-kick. One was eventually awarded, despite the Leipzig star seeing the ball strike his arm, with his back to the play. During a review of a possible handling by Liverpool defender Kostas Tsimikas, who saw the ball flick up off his thigh and onto his hand during stoppage-time of the Reds’ defeat at Real Madrid, also left onlookers perplexed as there had clearly been no infringement.

What they said

VAR Ancelotti told reporters afterwards of his discussions with Klopp We agree that it was not a hand we have talked about the penalty yesterday that was crazy really the penalty against Leipzig be careful with this because this is not football taking a penalty like that in a Champions League I don t think anyone had noticed not even Pep Guardiola noticed that they called for a penalty " >Blancos boss Ancelotti and Reds manager Klopp were seen watching on in bewilderment as a contest that was already over – with the Spaniards leading 6-2 on aggregate – was dragged out in an unnecessary manner by another pointless involvement from VAR. Ancelotti told reporters afterwards of his discussions with Klopp: “We agree that it was not a hand, we have talked about the penalty yesterday that was crazy, really, the penalty against Leipzig… be careful with this because this is not football – taking a penalty like that in a Champions League. I don’t think anyone had noticed; not even [Pep] Guardiola noticed that they called for a penalty.”

The bigger picture

Erling Haaland converted from the spot for City as part of his stunning five-goal haul against Leipzig, but a review of Tsimikas’ late handling at Santiago Bernabeu resulted in appeals being waived away following a look at pitch-side monitors.

What next?

Handball rules have sparked lively debate throughout the 2022-23 campaign, with plenty of confusion when it comes to individual interpretation of rules that are not as clear as they need to be. Klopp and Ancelotti are just two of many voices in football who are calling for a change in approach to VAR and how it is implemented in the game. As the debate continues, it remains to be seen how much impact their criticism will have on the future use of the technology.

Credit: https://www.goal.com/en-in/news/not-football-carlo-ancelotti-jurgen-klopp-complain-man-city-handball-var-real-madrid-liverpool/bltb972d9f978fb95d4

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